Rice intake among infants and toddlers from the Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study 2016.

Background: The Food and Drug Administration's Closer to Zero Action Plan aims to reduce toxic element exposure from foods infants and toddlers eat. Rice has been identified as a source of inorganic arsenic in the diets of infants and toddlers.

Objective: Evaluate consumption of rice and rice-containing foods from the Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study (FITS) 2016.

Design: FITS was a national cross-sectional survey conducted in 2016. Dietary intakes were collected by trained nutritionists using multiple-pass 24-h recalls by telephone with parents and caregivers of infants and toddlers.

Participants: Participants from FITS 2016 (n=2635) are from a national sample weighted to be representative of US infants and toddlers 0-24 months of age.

Main Outcome Measures: Rice grain consumption among infants and toddlers and distribution of rice grain consumed was determined using one day intakes. Per capita mean grams rice/day from infant cereal was determined for infants 0-12 months.

Statistical Analyses: Sources of rice were identified from 24-h dietary recalls. A percent of rice grain was assigned to each food source and descriptive statistics were used to estimate intakes and distributions.

Results: Percent consuming rice or rice-containing foods was highest for infants 6-11.9 months (58.2%), including snacks (32.1%), infant cereal (27.9%), baby food purees (11.1%) and cooked rice (7.7%). Among infants 6-11.9 months of age that consumed rice, mean intake of rice from all sources was 11.9 ±0.8g/d (mean±SE) and although most frequently reported, snacks provided the least quantity of rice (2.0±0.2g/d). For infants 0-11.9 months of age mean per capita rice intake from infant cereal was 3.3±g/day.

Conclusions: Older infants consume rice from a variety of foods. Rice-containing snacks contribute minimal quantities of rice to the daily diet. To reduce exposure to inorganic arsenic, infants should be offered a variety of grains as part of a well-balanced diet.